Friday, 1 August 2008

Ballet Shoes - not for everyone?

My daughters loved the BBC television adaption of Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes which was screened at Christmas. I bought them this new edition of the book but neither of them finished reading it. They liked the opening chapter where Gum keeps bringing home orphaned babies. They liked the rivalry between Pauline and Winifred at the auditions. They couldn't understand why Garnie and Nana had to keep making clothes for Pauline, Petrova and Posy. Why couldn't they just buy them from Primark?! They have now resumed reading Cathy Cassidy and Jacqueline Wilson who seem to have cornered the market in fiction for pre-teen girls. Maybe we shouldn't impose our favourite childhood books on our children and expect them to enjoy them as much as we did, but I was kind of sad that they didn't finish Ballet Shoes.

3 comments:

A shame your daughters didn't go for Ballet Shoes. My daughter didn't like it, either, but she loved What Katy Did and read it over and over. Have they tried that? She also adored Jennings; still does!

They do have a copy of What Katy Did, but I think it's unread. However, they have read and enjoyed all the Enid Blyton St Clare's series - which is odd because I was always a Malory Towers girl! I'll get them a copy of Jennings.